Men's Lacrosse | 4/16/2011 3:16:44 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY -- The No. 4 RIT men's lacrosse team (11-0, 5-0 E8) remained undefeated on the season with a convincing 18-8 win over No. 6 Stevens Institute of Technology (12-1, 4-1 E8) on a cold, wet, and windy Saturday afternoon at RIT Field.  Stevens was the top scoring team in Division III heading into today's contest.

The 11 straight games won by the Tigers is the second-longest streak to start the season.  In 1985, RIT won 13 straight games to start the year. RIT handed the Ducks their first loss of the season and remain tied at the top of the Empire 8 standings with arch rival Nazareth College.

RIT scored nine straight goals to erase an early 2-0 deficit.  The Tigers led 4-2 after the first quarter, 10-4 at the half, and broke the game open with four goals in the third and fourth quarters to pick up their fifth Empire 8 win. The Tigers defense held Stevens, the top scoring team in Division III, to eight goals on the day, and under 10 goals for the first time this season.

Senior goalie Bob Tonnessen (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) was outstanding in net for the Tigers making 19 saves and improving to 11-0 on the season. Stevens committed 23 turnovers with 15 being forced by RIT. Senior #M.J. Kiekebelt# led the way with five caused turnovers, while grabbing 10 ground balls, winning two face offs and scoring a goal.

Senior Kelso Davis (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy) led a balanced RIT attack with eight points on five goals and three assists. Tyler Russell (Livonia, NY/Livonia) scored four more goals, giving him a team-high 38 on the season. Jordan Collins-Hartwig (Buffalo, NY/Clarence) had two goals and an assist, while #A.J. Tingle had a goal and three assists. (Georgetown, Ontario/Trinity-Pawling)Chris Cherami# added two goals, while Jordan MacIntosh (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) had a goal and two assists.

Brandon Faubert led Stevens with four points on three goals and an assist. Alex Hofrichter had two goals and Chris Laurita had a goal and an assist. Eric Yando took the loss for the Ducks allowing 15 goals while making 13 saves.

Stevens opened the game scoring the first two goals. Faubert and Hofrichter gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead at the 7:12 mark of the quarter.

The Tigers came storming back scoring four straight goals to end the quarter and lead 4-2 at the break. Russell, Cherami, Davis and Ryan Speciale (Painted Post, NY/Corning West) each scored for RIT in the quarter.

RIT kept the momentum going in the second quarter, scoring the first five goals of the quarter and opening up a 9-2 lead on Davis' third goal of the half. In all, RIT scored nine straight goals to break the game open on the Ducks.

Laurita broke the RIT run with an unassisted goal at the 4:31 mark to cut the Tigers lead down to 9-3.

After a Collins-Hartwig goal made it 10-3, Faubert scored with :28 seconds remaining in the half to make it 10-4 at the half.

The Tigers defense stiffened in the third quarter allowing just one Stevens goal by Faubert at 9:07. RIT scored four times in the quarter  and led 14-5 heading into the fourth quarter.

RIT added four more goals in the fourth quarter to roll on to their 11th victory of the season and stay atop the Empire 8 standings.

Stevens outshot RIT 54-49 and won the ground ball battle 51-46. The Tigers won 12-of-28 face offs and were 21-of-24 on clearing attemtps. RIT rode the ball very well, holding Stevens to just 18-of-26 on clears. Stevens was 1-of-3 on man-up opportunites, while RIT went 2-for-6.

Today's game also marked a homecoming for Stevens coach Gene Peluso, who compiled an 88-45 mark at RIT from 2002-09, leading the Tigers to the 2006 Empire 8 Championship.  He is now 0-2 against the Tigers since moving to Stevens last season.

RIT returns to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Alfred University to face the Saxons at 4 p.m.